Your Guide to Movies and Television

Netflix Makes a Genius Move Putting Sarah Polley in Charge

The great Sarah Polley, who most recently directed the beautiful Stories We Tell, will be producing and writing the new Netflix adaptation of the Margaret Atwood novel Alias Grace. Polley is pairing with Noreen Halpern’s Halfire Entertainment for the six-hour miniseries, which will be directed by Mary Harron — the eyes behind American Psycho (featuring Christian Bale’s likely career-best performance).

Another woman taking the reins of a television series is great news, as more evidence surfaces of the entertainment industry’s resistance to women in creative positions of power. Polley is a perfect choice for a seasoned talent who has grown up in the industry but always retained a strong sense for indie filmmaking. She was excellent as a child actress in the striking The Sweet Hereafter (dir. Atom Egoyan) and continued to show promise in Go, the underrated, high-voltage comedy thriller by Doug Liman (who would later direct the very good action films Edge of Tomorrow and two Bourne installments). But it is as a storyteller behind the scenes that she has truly blossomed into a unique artist.

Polley made her directorial debut with the stirring, beautifully-acted Away From Her. I can only guess she’ll do wonders casting and writing the Atwood adaptation, especially with the very talented Harron behind the camera. Alias Grace will begin shooting this August in Ontario. It should be a must-watch when it makes it way to streaming on Netflix.